Walk into Shadyside’s Highlander Pub on a Monday, and DJ Spaed will be on the turntables goin’ off. A true DJ’s DJ, Spaed accompanies the pounding hip-hop beats with fast but rhythmic cuts and scratches that show off his highly developed skills. He might follow such a technical showcase with a connoisseur’s blend of classic hip-hop songs by artists like Big Pun, Big L, Nas and Gangstarr.
Spaed’s just kicked off a new Monday-night series at the Highlander called “Hideaway Hustle,” described by his event partner DJ Assassin as “a night where you won’t hear that shit they play on the radio.”
Apart from the Highlander, Spaed’s DJed at numerous parties in Pittsburgh, Baltimore, D.C., New York, Philly, Cleveland, Cincinnati — even North Carolina. Here his stylistic virtuosity comes into play, whether he’s spinning hip hop or drum-and-bass, alongside local favorites or celebs such as Trace, Tiesto and, most recently, DJ Rohan of Ireland’s BassBin Records. He was recently featured in the CP-sponsored Sound Kitchen independent-music showcase. “I’ve been in this DJ game for years,” he exclaims. “The underground is what it is, and we’re all up in it.”
Spaed’s also well-known for his nutty sense of humor. “You can be a meathead, a stripper, or a farmer who’s out standing in his field — come face to face with underground hip-hop and electronic music and realize yinz been wrong all along!”
While he’s probably never fit in any of those categories, Spaed’s reinvented himself more than a few times along the way. Hailing from eastside neighborhoods including Edgewood and Squirrel Hill, Spaed began in the late ’80s, not as a DJ, but as a musician. While a student at CAPA and Allderdice, he studied guitar and drums, as well as classical music theory, and soaked in diverse influences including classic rock, jazz, blues and heavy metal, as well as indie rock, punk and hip hop.
Spaed kept up with the emerging indie-rock movement, witnessing shows from trendsetters like Government Issue, Fugazi, Bad Brains and Naked Raygun, to name a few — and collecting records. You might say Spaed caught the vinyl bug from hanging around indie-music maverick Damon Che, of Don Caballero, and then-owner of the Sonic Temple, Manny Theiner.
Spaed’s broad taste in music led him to the cusp of the rave movement and the many forms of electronic music being showcased in the early’90s. He chose to focus on drum-and-bass. During the music’s early development, Spaed kept company with nationally known pioneers Deadly Buda and Dieselboy. Along with some of his close friends, Spaed helped create a style of mixing DnB that Dieselboy and others, like DJ Sine, are still known for around the world.
Respected by fellow DJs and admired by critical audiences with esoteric tastes, Spaed has solidified his reputation as an aficionado’s DJ through years of persistence — and keeping up-to-date. A true fanatic, Spaed’s kept his ear to the cutting edge of many vinyl-inspired movements; in the late ’90s, he reinvented himself as an underground hip-hop DJ. Soon he was regularly DJing with the Radio Hip-Hop crew and doing his own weekly spots at Pub I.G. and ZLounge (then known as Zythos).
Though he doesn’t cater to a mainstream crowd, DJ Spaed has immersed himself in the music and gigged regularly throughout his career. He still keeps up on the music that drew him to the turntables.
“The electronic-music scene here is bananas!” he says with pride. “One of my best friends, Rob Diatri, has the world-famous DJ Adam F playing his tunes. There’s also a lot of solid DnB DJs around. Sometimes I’ll bump into a small unknown night outta nowhere with DJs that’ll rival anything I’ve heard in a big East Coast city lately.”
DJ Spaed spins Monday nights at “Hideway Hustle.” Highlander Pub, 22 S. Highland Ave., Shadyside. 412-361-2747.
This article appears in Oct 19-25, 2006.
I have been a DJ in the Pittsburgh and surrounding areas for about 23 years and counting. I work about 5 nights a week as well as various corporate functions, I read the City Paper on a regular basis, and must say the majority of the readers of your paper aren’t the type of people who go see the DJ’s you feature regularly. My opinion is you are missing the boat on refusing to feature some of the real DJ’s in town that are main stream and work some of the larger clubs that advertise heavily in your magazine. Not to take anything away from the DJ’s you feature, I know most of them personally and think they are awesome at what they do, but most of them except for maybe 1 or 2 have ever played in a mainstream club, if it wasn’t for some of the DJ’s in the mainstream clubs laying the tracks down for these guys they would not be where they are today. I know I am going to get a lot of slak from this comment, but everybody that knows me, knows I say it like it is, and I just did.
“I read the City Paper on a regular basis, and must say the majority of the readers of your paper aren’t the type of people who go see the DJ’s you feature regularly.”
How do you come up with that? The city paper is all about the underground bands/DJs. That is the good thing about it.
“…on refusing to feature some of the real DJ’s in town”
and by real DJ’s you mean the DJs who play what they are told to play and play the same weak tracks everytime they play and dont know how to mix? (except the WAMO DJs, those guys are good)
“but most of them except for maybe 1 or 2 have ever played in a mainstream club, if it wasn’t for some of the DJ’s in the mainstream clubs laying the tracks down for these guys they would not be where they are today. ”
We don’t want to play in mainstream clubs. Mainstream music and people are whack. And I just have no comment for your last statement. That just doesn’t make any sense.
EZ,
Jungle Jake
did someone really remove my response back to djcouple? you should remove his response for the stupidity of it.
nevermind, for some reason it now appeared. woops
While you guys are interviewing some “mainstream club djs” be sure to interview a jukebox and an ipod or two also. They’re about equally significant.
In terms of jakeb412 if we mainstream DJ’s are wack and play the same weak tracks every week, then why do 1000’s of people come to see us week in and week out. As far as my response being stupid I think you should take time to look at yourself a bit. I did say not to take anything away from these guys, that they are good at what they do. Don’t forget I know most of them personally, like Zimmie, Bonics, Nugget, and so forth. They are excellent DJ’s. But look at the advertising in the City Paper. The bulk of your entertainment advertising is from the mainstream clubs.
Now to Cutups, I agree with you that some people buy an I-Pod and think they are a DJ. They may have a very good selection of music, but DJing is more than having a large selection of music and mixing every song (which I do rather well and will challenge anyone to a mix off any day of the week). It is also reading the crowd and knowing what they want before they ever ask for it, playing the right song at the right time and occasionally doing a mash up to throw them off a bit. I can be reached at Boomerangs in Oakland on Thursdays, and Carson City Saloon on Friday and Saturdays every week if you want to see me in action. I do stand behind what I say, always have and always will. I am not mad at anyone’s comments for saying it like it is. I wish the rest of the world would just say it like it is. Sure it may hurt some people’s feelings, but at least you are honest about it.
Keep in mind too, a major difference between those of us in mainstream clubs and these underground DJ’s is financial. I’ve worked many years to be where I am. I now enjoy the luxury of earning my living doing what I love. Working for a bigger crowd means pulling down a lot more pay. I don’t have to work for $75 a night and my bar tab. I guess that’s the major difference between having a hobby and being a professional.
So I posted a return comment and can’t see it. I suppose City Paper doesn’t want to hear from real professionals from the city of Pittsburgh. This paper is run like the Best Of votes. Whoever spends the most money in advertising in the City Paper wins certain catagories. I guess that’s the way crooked businesses like it, buy your way to the top instead of working hard and earning it.
Props to the CP for highlighting a DJ who plays music for the sake of the music. Underground or not, a DJ who loves what he does and strives for progression will always shine. When you hear a DJ who plays onyl underground music you don’t have to ask yourself anything, you just take the music at face value and you like it or you don’t. Mainstream DJs play what they are told, how they are told, and 9 times out of 10 don’t even own their own music. Mainstream Djs do not compare to underground Djs, they are two different animals with vastly different motives. Highlighting a mainstream DJ and writing an article about their work is like highlighting the promotion of a CEO to a corporation. There’s no original style, no dedication to progressing a sound, no daily struggles to survive in a world where their music is disrespected, and above all that, they are disposable. Anyone can play the top 10 songs on the radio when they don’t have to beat match, mix, buy records, or program a set. Djing in the mainstream does not require nearly as much talent as Djing for the underground, and since mainstream djs are picked not because of their originality but because of their uniformity, when one falls off another faceless DJ will pop up to take that place, just like Kleenex. Besides all this, mainstream music is garbage.
peace
There are mainstream DJ’s out there with at least decent ability behind the table. There is no need to showcase them because no one cares who they are. There is no need to promote them because anyone who can turn on kiss fm knows what they’re going to spin. I’m not gonna knock a dj who’s love of music tends to be in the top 40. We all get the right to choose what we listen to. However, I think it’s wrong to say that these underground guys are only here because of the mainstream guys. These underground guys are here because they love the music. A so called “real” dj is gonna play what they want, they’re the dj, it’s their job to lay the tracks. Not the club manager, not even the crowd. At least you know in the underground that the crowd came to see the dj. Not because it’s the place everyone else is at.
So I posted a return comment and can’t see it. “I suppose City Paper doesn’t want to hear from real professionals from the city of Pittsburgh.”
Do ME the favor, and define what REAL music is?..
“This paper is run like the Best Of votes. Whoever spends the most money in advertising in the City Paper wins certain catagories. I guess that’s the way crooked businesses like it, buy your way to the top instead of working hard and earning it.”
Dont be jealous someone “under you” got a spot highlight in a magazine – for doing something HE enjoys for many years to come.
O.K. The real differance between the work some of us do in the underground and the mainstream club dj, is we actually work for what we do. The club dj has a couple hundred of people show up every week, no problem. News flash! They’re there for the booze not the dj. I garantee 1/2 the people in the club never heard of you unless there regulars. Now some of the actual djs who’ve posted above actually work at there careers, not just show up for work. I’ve worked with some of you and seen you out handing out flyers and promoting yourself not just dropping your name between records. How about the fact that most of the people who come to our Events dont go to clubs. So I guess my problem with your statement is you really dont have a clue what goes on outside your little club night. And by the way, Alot of people in E.d.m. read city paper. They,ve sponcerd events!
coming from someone who’s been interviewed in this column – i’d say it’s probably safe to assume that if you’re familiar with every person featured, you’re not getting a widespread sample of who’s out there.
regardless – it’s up to the writer to decide what his scope is. should he interview wedding DJs ? or radio DJs ? or people who play country music ? really, who’s to say ?
but a different question – should DJs who play music that they didn’t pay for, be held in the same regard as those who pay for their music ? should the media turn a blind eye to this ? it’s understood that venues and promoters aren’t addressing this (i.e. sure you can play, but you can’t be paid for playing stolen music).
this is no doubt more of a cover story than an afterthought for this column. but it’s what came to mind when i read the comments above.
-kelly
As one of the few and proud people in this city that is a record producer by profession, as well as one of the originators of underground music in this city (if you want to know why I made this statement head over to my website at http://www.djstrobe.com or my MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/djstrobemusic )., I can with a clean conscience weigh in on this matter.
First off, the underground DJs should thank the mainstream club DJs for keeping the people who would otherwise be requesting Akon and Justin Timberlake out of their events. Most club kids and underground supporters aren’t going to Matrix or Diesel unless there’s a special event, and even then, it’s iffy, and most people who want to go to a place to search out booty and beer aren’t coming to an underground party. Neither one is keeping it any more “real” then the other. Loving house or other underground music doesn’t make you part of an elite club, you may have more distinctive tastes, but speaking out against any style of music just makes you ignorant not a specialist.
Second, on the subject of DJs playing music they may or may not have paid for, let’s address another important issue, the DJs ability to GET the music they spin. After my residency at the original Metropol in the late 80’s/early 90’s, I lived in NYC for about 10 years, and there was a good vinyl or CD shop around the corner for pretty much any genre of music you were looking for. Can anybody weigh in on how many stores we have here that cater musically to DJs? Maybe one or two.
With the vast majority of good underground house and club music coming from outside this country buying a single piece of vinyl can set you back $10-20.00. No wonder so many DJs are going digital. If you’re a mainstream DJ, then you have to have whatever 20 new tracks every patron expects to hear that week in addition to every other past, recurrent, and classic. It’s pretty expensive when you have fewer options. Club owners in this city with the exception of a few don’t regard the DJ as anything more then a human jukebox, they aren’t paying for the music the DJs play, and pay pretty much peanuts to compensate for the vast amount of money the jocks do spend to keep the dancefloors rocking. Stealing music is wrong on many levels, as a producer it takes money out of my pockets, but I am sure many DJs feel they have limited or no options in this city. When is the City Paper going to do an article on how the DJs in this city can get a hold of the music they need legally? For dance DJs looking for MP3s or that spin CDs, we have Beatport, Traxxsource, Juno, the list goes on. Many of the larger labels which have the majority of Hip Hop, R & B, and pop artists have chosen outlets like iTunes which limit the usability of the music unless you are spinning off of the computer the music is authorized to. Acquiring music via P2P or from another DJ sometimes happens out of desperation or necessity, not always ill intent. The fact that legitimate digital distributors of music have sold over a billion tracks shows that people can and will buy music, as long as they know where to get it, and have the ability to use it as needed (as in burning to a CD to DJ with.) And what about when you have the vinyl, but need a CD or MP3 of the track is it ok to download the mix then? Of course you can rip the vinyl into your computer and make a CD or MP3 but who’s showing everyone how to do that that might not know (besides our label and studio [Steel City Funk], we actually offer this service to DJs for a very fair price.)
Everything in this city is a popularity contest when it comes to entertainment, and many great talents in this city don’t get the recognition they disserve. DJs like Soy Sos, Zimmie and Nugget, Pittsburgh House Underground, and the list goes on. Every week at the Firehouse, we (Steel City Funk – 7up, Elysium, and myself along with VJ Chad is Rad) throw down a party unlike anything else I’ve seen on the east coast. 3 DJs and a visual guy, all playing together at once, creating music out of tracks, making tracks live while we DJ, with live keys and visuals in sync like nothing I have seen in my 18 years in the industry, spinning on 4 laptops with technology only matched by sheer passion of house music and skill, and you’ll never see an article about it here. We have a label geared towards finding a home for electronic music and artists in this city with global distribution deals, no article. I myself have 2 gold records, 150 releases, and have worked with some of the biggest artists around the world, own a label, and make tracks that regularly show up on charts and dancefloors from Pittsburgh to the UK, but you will never see an article about it here. And so what, that doesn’t make it any less real or embraced.
So it’s everyone’s right to bitch and moan, but just do what you love and have a passion for. As for anything else you do that may or may not be questionable, it’s not our job to judge you.
Strobe – I think you’re wrong when you say you’ll never be featured there. Even though I’ve never personally been, your night has alot of buzz.